Beverly, Mass. — The Anti-Graffiti Truck is rolling into Beverly today to clean up the city.

The Essex County Sheriff’s Department will be here for a week removing graffiti. Beverly

Police Chief Mark Ray and the Citizen Advisory Committee’s Graffiti Task Force arranged for the clean up, which will also include a visit from Sheriff Frank Cousins this Friday. The anti-graffiti truck is part of the Sheriff’s Department Community Service program.

Two low-level offenders, supervised by a correctional officer, will wash graffiti off public and private buildings and other structures.

The Graffiti Task Force has already made a list of areas that need to be cleaned, including Beverly beaches, playgrounds and public buildings. Ward 2 Councilor Wesley Slate, who is part of the Task Force, has sent a letter to fellow councilors asking for any additional locations that should be added to the list.

Members of the CAC and a Beverly police officer will lend assistance to the Sheriff’s Department and its crew.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

PICKERING -- There's no point in defacing CN property in Pickering, because it'll get covered up in no time, says Mayor Dave Ryan.

Graffiti along the Canadian National Rail Line's bridges and underpasses in Pickering was painted over last week and CN and the City of Pickering are working together to keep it clean.

"CN is committed to working with the municipality to clean up the graffiti on its rail infrastructure and working with community organizations like Crime Stoppers and Pickering's Eyes on the Street to ensure the graffiti does not return," said Jeff Liepelt, senior vice president, Eastern Region, CN.

CN introduced its Municipal Anti-Graffiti Program in Pickering Friday, choosing the city as its pilot project after Mayor Ryan had brought the situation to the attention of CN.

In April, not long after a train derailment in Pickering, Mayor Ryan met with the Minister of Transport and the Minister of State for Transport to discuss the situation, noting seven derailments in Durham Region in the past six years was unacceptable.

Mayor Ryan later met with CN representatives about his safety concerns, but also raised the issue of graffiti that's commonly found on visible CN property not only in Pickering, but throughout Canada. CN had committed at the time to work on an initiative to clean up the graffiti and prevent future vandalism on its property and, five months later, it's officially under way.

"We've completed pretty well all of Pickering," said CN spokesman Frank Binder, who added CN footed the bill.

CN property around Liverpool Road and Brock Road had been painted over, he said, and some more dangerous spots would be taken care of when it is safe.

The footage is from a DVD called "The Forgotton City" shout out to that but i think these are the best parts.
The main spread is NOT done by a disgruntled CTA worker. It is done by ETHER by far the best tag in the video.
The spread that is done inside of the train around the middle of the video is done by AFRO42 and he passed away. So R.I.P.

A GRAFFITI database allowing police and the Maroondah Council to track, target and stop vandals could be set up next year.

The online database, developed in the Yarra Ranges, helps police to keep tabs on vandals and charge those caught with multiple recorded incidents.

It includes a map plotting incidents of graffiti that police keep “live” by updating with new or removed tags, including information from the public.
Yarra Ranges crime prevention officer Leading Sen-Constable Linda Hancock, who played a central role in setting up the database, said it was fast becoming a vital investigation tool. “We use it to map trends in tags, and where they are appearing and who they are appearing with,” she said.

Maroondah crime prevention officer Leading Sen-Constable Robert King said police were in talks with the council about the database, already being rolled out in Knox, Nillumbik and Cardinia. “If we find a tag in Knox, we can look up and see if the same tag has been done in Maroondah,” he said.

Maroondah operations and infrastructure director Trevor Welsh said the council was assessing the suitability and benefits of the database. He said the council now spent about $200,000 a year on removing graffiti.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A Christian-based youth mentoring group is using graffiti art to appeal for more volunteers to work with young people in danger of going off the rails.

Brothers in Arms, which provides mentors for youngsters referred from police and other agencies, employed Mangere-based graffiti artists FDKNS to paint a giant mural on the fence of the Avondale Racecourse yesterday with the words "Help me".

Tekake William, a 15-year-old who has been mentored by the group for the past 18 months, said the graffiti art was different from "tagging".

"I don't do tagging. I do bombing," he said.

His mentor Mike Kemps, 26, said "bombing" was legal artwork.

Like other mentors, Mr Kemps committed to see Tekake regularly for at least a year.

Tekake has recently joined the Army cadets and aims to join the Navy.

Brothers in Arms manager Wade McMillan said the group needed mentors aged 18-plus. "Most are under 30 but we have some in their thirties and forties."

Sunday, September 19, 2010

It wasn’t so long ago that Keep Britain Tidy protested that Banksy was nothing more than a “self-confessed graffiti vandal.” Now, however, the Bristol-based and enduringly elusive artist seems to be handling the charity’s guerrilla marketing campaigns.

Mystery man Banksy’s latest ‘public show’ features the pictured piece of an elderly woman standing proudly by her own graffiti, carrying the name of the Wigan-based campaigning anti-litter organisation.

Despite the charity’s previous criticism of him, they now appear to have taken him to their bosom and have released a statement noting that the team are “delighted to see that Banksy is clearly a supporter and is prepared to declare it to the world.”He now appears to have evolved into “an acclaimed artist.”

KBT can technically justify this about-face as its research has shown that “the vast majority of people now differentiate between different types of graffiti.”

Phil Barton, the body’s chief executive, explained more: “The more common ‘tagging’ is seen as offensive, blighting the environment and leading to an increased fear of crime but the more community-based art is seen in a different light.

“The problem is the so-called ‘nice’ graffiti – like Banksy’s Keep Britain Tidy image – accounts for less than one per cent of all graffiti and, of course, depending on where it is may cause significant problems for the property owner.

“Many councils now look for innovative ways of dealing with graffiti and we support this. It can be a powerful way to engage with children and young people in their local communities.”

The location of the art is not yet known, but How-Do understands that it’s not been painted on KBT’s walls in Wigan.

Streetartandgraffiti.blogspot.com is not going to exhort the illegal writing, but shows only a preexisting phenomenon.The artists's material is sent to us in anonymous form. We hold the right to be contacted by the artists in presence of copyrighted photos or in case of recommendations.